ITS Rear pads shot after 20k miles

[Vivid Apex]

I've had my ITS for almost exactly one year and just under 20,000 miles (it's just too fun NOT to drive it every chance I get!)

Took it in for an oil change and tire rotation and when inspecting the brakes the rear pads had just 2mm left. The fronts were fine at like 6mm. This seemed really odd to me and the service tech as well. The rear rotors also showed some discoloration so they recommended replacing both pads and rotors. I did about 5 minutes of digging and it seems like on
the Civic Type-R the stability control uses the rear brakes which causes faster wear on the pads, so I guess that's it?

Anyone else seeing significantly faster wear of rear pads?

Lastly, I'm not interested in spending the $850+ they quoted to replace the rotors, and will probably just replace the pads..... any aftermarket pad recommendations? And if the rotors do become an issue would it make sense to replace with something drilled/slotted?

Thanks!

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[optronix]

Any track usage? That will accelerate rear brake wear like a mfkr unless VSA is disabled.

If you don't know what any of that means but you took it to a track, that explains everything. If you plan to continue going to the track, then consider disabling VSA. Just google "pedal dance", that'll get you there.

note*- be aware that disabling VSA will significantly alter the driving dynamics of the car

You're probably going to want to at least consider replacing the rotors too, but I wouldn't do anything drilled or slotted. The OEM brakes are solid.

If the car hasn't seen a track, I'm really curious about your driving habits lol.

 

[Vivid Apex]

Any track usage? That will accelerate rear brake wear like a mfkr unless VSA is disabled.

If you don't know what any of that means but you took it to a track, that explains everything. If you plan to continue going to the track, then consider disabling VSA. Just google "pedal dance", that'll get you there.

note*- be aware that disabling VSA will significantly alter the driving dynamics of the car

You're probably going to want to at least consider replacing the rotors too, but I wouldn't do anything drilled or slotted. The OEM brakes are solid.

If the car hasn't seen a track, I'm really curious about your driving habits lol.

Thanks for the quick response!

Lol, no track use. I mostly use it to cart the kids around and it's in Comfort mode probably 95% of the time. I'm aware of the pedal dance to turn VSA COMPLETELY off but have never driven it like that. I'm not afraid to drive it every once in a while but when I do I'm not exactly mashing the brakes like you would on a track. I for sure figured I would need to replace the tires long before the pads, and certainly the rotors.

 

[Victorofhavoc]

If you're not driving on track (with vsa on) it shouldn't be wearing out the rears that fast. Have you looked at them yourself?

The other reason the rears could wear quickly is if the electronic parking brake is malfunctioning and doesn't release entirely when turned off. It's a servo-screw design so it just twists each time you enable epb. It should 98% release when off.

 

[Vivid Apex]

If you're not driving on track (with vsa on) it shouldn't be wearing out the rears that fast. Have you looked at them yourself?

The other reason the rears could wear quickly is if the electronic parking brake is malfunctioning and doesn't release entirely when turned off. It's a servo-screw design so it just twists each time you enable epb. It should 98% release when off.

I did look at them myself and there was very little pad remaining. I could also see the outer inch or so of the rotors was more of a bronze color than the shiny steel color of the fronts.

I thought about the parking brake too. I'll ask about that when I schedule my follow-up next week.

Thanks!

 

[SilverRocket]

I can't say it's the same for the servo motor style rear brakes but the one of the only "out of standard maintenance" issues I've ever had on my Civic was that one of the rear brakes locked up thanks to rust on the calper. It didn't release with the parking brake. Basically after driving in extremely heavy rain, I parked the car and then it sat for more than 48h.

Even with 2/3 the power of the ITS, the one lone locked brake wasn't immediately perceptible, long enough that I cooked it.

The rotor had however a blueish color, not bronze but color might be down to other factors.

Anyway, now I make sure to do some heavy stops at the very end of my drive in rain, enough so that the brakes cook off all the water and knock on wood I haven't had the issue so far.

 

[ChromaPop]

If you don't mind losing a tad of gas mileage, implementing a bit more engine braking via additional downshifting could help preserve your pads and rotors.

 

[Krazydan19]

Have you found away to do hand brake slides ?! . I’ll have to check mine out since mine is normally used for same tasks “soccer practice”. And if you’re buring the pads in comfort mode that’s nuts. Maybe putt it into sport plus maybe that will save the pads

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